Boris
24-04-2003, 03:46 PM
The ‘BEST’ day out ! ! !
I did enjoy myself , so thought you might like to hear about it.
It started well. A 55 minute run down the M6 with minimum annoyance ( a small miracle on that stretch of motorway ) took me to my daughter and her 2 little children. A girl almost 5 and a boy 2 3/4.
A quick coffee and a short stroll to the station and we headed off into Birmingham for the ‘Sea Life’ Centre. The train arrived within minutes and whizzed us into the city centre – my grandson was in raptures as he is at any such journey…or view of lorries, buses, road sweepers, police cars…you get the picture !
My daughter and her husband love living in Birmingham. For me it has never held any appeal, other than their presence, until yesterday. I saw a side of the city that amazed me. It was St. George’s day and it was being celebrated all around. There was a holiday atmosphere and with the sun shinning down a feeling of ‘good will’ enveloped us all. There was of course the usual ‘tacky ‘ fairground stuff, but also many people ‘dressed up’ with red trimmings, red rose buttonholes, all out to take part in festivities of one kind or another.
We enjoyed our walk through the city and arrived at the Sea Life Centre ready to be enthralled by all before us. It was OK. The children enjoyed it. The fish were all well displayed, in good condition and the variety and information available could not be faulted. The restaurant , loos and floors in various areas needed a good scrub and the cost of the tickets should have made this possible. We had taken a picnic with us rather than risk the burgers and chips we had been warned would be offered and enjoyed that instead; after which the children enjoyed a turn in the obligatory soft play area.
The ‘Hawaiian’ under sea tunnel did not quite match up to the one we had seen in a ‘Jaws’ film , but the children were never the less delighted. We even caught sight of the Giant Turtle – a new feature – as it went to hide under the walkway ! Carefully avoiding the ‘gift shop’ full of plastic junk, we went out into the ‘real’ world again.
We sat outside a ‘coffee shop’ enjoying the sunshine. We drank hot milky coffee out of huge ‘friends’ style cups while the children played on the grass in between dabbling their fingers in water from the fountains.( very daring !) The world strolled past us at an ‘easy’ pace while we watched. With the canal close at hand , we just had to take a walk along the tow path. The children peered inside ( very rude of us …sorry) moored narrow boats and we admired the paintings on the outsides.
All too soon it was time to go home. We walked back through the city stopping for the children to have 1 ride on a ‘teacup’ roundabout and on to the station. After a quick ‘comfort stop’ we gathered on the platform as the train arrived. We even managed to get seats with the pushchair at rushour !
The lovely day ended with tea on the patio, still in the sun, playing with the children for a while then bath and bed for them with my Grandaughter very proudly reading the bedtime story to me.
Another quick whizz up the M6 - amazing - and back home to Mr. Boris.
Days like that are rare and must be treasured.
Hope you have enjoyed it too.
:spin2:
I did enjoy myself , so thought you might like to hear about it.
It started well. A 55 minute run down the M6 with minimum annoyance ( a small miracle on that stretch of motorway ) took me to my daughter and her 2 little children. A girl almost 5 and a boy 2 3/4.
A quick coffee and a short stroll to the station and we headed off into Birmingham for the ‘Sea Life’ Centre. The train arrived within minutes and whizzed us into the city centre – my grandson was in raptures as he is at any such journey…or view of lorries, buses, road sweepers, police cars…you get the picture !
My daughter and her husband love living in Birmingham. For me it has never held any appeal, other than their presence, until yesterday. I saw a side of the city that amazed me. It was St. George’s day and it was being celebrated all around. There was a holiday atmosphere and with the sun shinning down a feeling of ‘good will’ enveloped us all. There was of course the usual ‘tacky ‘ fairground stuff, but also many people ‘dressed up’ with red trimmings, red rose buttonholes, all out to take part in festivities of one kind or another.
We enjoyed our walk through the city and arrived at the Sea Life Centre ready to be enthralled by all before us. It was OK. The children enjoyed it. The fish were all well displayed, in good condition and the variety and information available could not be faulted. The restaurant , loos and floors in various areas needed a good scrub and the cost of the tickets should have made this possible. We had taken a picnic with us rather than risk the burgers and chips we had been warned would be offered and enjoyed that instead; after which the children enjoyed a turn in the obligatory soft play area.
The ‘Hawaiian’ under sea tunnel did not quite match up to the one we had seen in a ‘Jaws’ film , but the children were never the less delighted. We even caught sight of the Giant Turtle – a new feature – as it went to hide under the walkway ! Carefully avoiding the ‘gift shop’ full of plastic junk, we went out into the ‘real’ world again.
We sat outside a ‘coffee shop’ enjoying the sunshine. We drank hot milky coffee out of huge ‘friends’ style cups while the children played on the grass in between dabbling their fingers in water from the fountains.( very daring !) The world strolled past us at an ‘easy’ pace while we watched. With the canal close at hand , we just had to take a walk along the tow path. The children peered inside ( very rude of us …sorry) moored narrow boats and we admired the paintings on the outsides.
All too soon it was time to go home. We walked back through the city stopping for the children to have 1 ride on a ‘teacup’ roundabout and on to the station. After a quick ‘comfort stop’ we gathered on the platform as the train arrived. We even managed to get seats with the pushchair at rushour !
The lovely day ended with tea on the patio, still in the sun, playing with the children for a while then bath and bed for them with my Grandaughter very proudly reading the bedtime story to me.
Another quick whizz up the M6 - amazing - and back home to Mr. Boris.
Days like that are rare and must be treasured.
Hope you have enjoyed it too.
:spin2: